Depth a definite luxury

Riddick a factor as returner thanks to stable of WRs.

September 01, 2011|ERIC HANSEN | Tribune Staff Writer

SOUTH BEND -- Robby Toma, in a sort of roundabout way, has helped Notre Dame soup up its special teams.

The 5-foot-9, 185-pound junior from Laie, Hawaii doesn't appear anywhere on the Irish season-opening special teams depth chart, but his progress as a slot receiver has allowed fellow slot receiver Theo Riddick to be all over it.

Riddick, who returned just two kickoffs and no punt returns in 2010, is handling both duties this season after second-year coach Brian Kelly waffled during the offseason about how much is too much special teams when it comes to one of the team's premier offensive playmakers.

"What I've said to Theo is he'll take his (rest) on offense," Kelly said. "If he needs a play or two (off) because he's playing special teams, he'll take it on offense.

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"We have great confidence in Robby Toma to go in there and play a series. Theo, in his mindset, has to be a huge impact for us in special teams. So if he needs a blow, we are comfortable with Robby being in the game."

The 5-11, 198-pound Riddick was ND's second-leading receiver behind team MVP Michael Floyd in 2010, despite missing four games and playing a limited role in three others because of a foot injury (40 catches for 414 yards, 3 TDs).

Toma had the highest yards-per-catch on the team last season (13.4), while catching 14 passes for 87 yards.

Notre Dame's starters at wide receiver for Saturday's season opener with South Florida are Floyd, Riddick and sophomore TJ Jones. Toma and swingman John Goodman fill out the five-receiver rotation.

Freshman DaVaris Daniels and sophomore Daniel Smith, a South Bend Clay grad, are Nos. 6-7 in a position group that goes 10 deep.

"We're not going to put Daniels in a position where the light is on him," Kelly said of how he'll ease the 6-1, 195-pounder into action. "We're going to sneak him in there when it's a time and place where he doesn't have to be counted on to make a big play as he continues to grow."

Walking the walk

Kelly hasn't eliminated the team's traditional pregame walk from the Basilica to Notre Dame Stadium, but he has rerouted it considerably.

After pregame Mass, the team will board buses and ride back to the Guglielmino Athletics Complex. A layover of sorts ensues before the team heads for the Hesburgh Library, then makes a sharp left turn toward the stadium.

Pragmatism, in Kelly's way of thinking, needed to trump trepidation from traditionalists.

"I'm always looking at ways to manage all the demands on our players' time during the week," he said. "As you know, it's one of the great unique qualities that we have here at Notre Dame, that there's such

COLLEGE FOOTBALL[square]ºWho: No. 16 Notre Dame (0-0) vs. South Florida (0-0)[square]ºWhen: Saturday at 3:30 p.m. EST[square]ºWhere: Notre Dame Stadium[square]ºTV: NBC[square]ºRadio: WNSN (101.5 FM), WSBT (960 AM)[square]ºLine: Notre Dame by 10 1/2[square]ºQuoting: "It's going to feel like everything's going at 100 mph. But I tell them to embrace it. Don't feel like you're the only one out there experiencing it. There's a lot of people out there that are experiencing the same thing." -- ND linebacker Manti Te'o on his advice to the Irish freshmen

pageantry and tradition. We want to maintain that, but we want to make sure that our players get ample time to be focused on football as well.

"So we tweaked the schedule to give our guys a breather before we take that walk. We wanted to do it in a comfortable environment ... where we have all of our training aids, our video, and a comfort level that they have being here. So we wanted to create that on game day for our players but not lose out on the great traditions of being in the Basilica and having the walk."

Pro-tential

Kelly tries to steer his team away from thinking or talking about their potential NFL futures during the season. Presumably there's no such restriction on the media, however, to broach the topic.

In NFL Draft analyst Scott Wright's initial mock draft for the April 2012 event, the president of NFLDraftCountdown.com has junior linebacker Manti Te'o going 24th overall to the Baltimore Ravens and senior wide receiver Michael Floyd 26th to the New England Patriots.

Te'o has not indicated that he plans to leave school early, but did say there would be a decision to contemplate after the 2011 season.

"Floyd is clearly a first-round talent, but off-the-field issues could push him down a bit," Wright said. "Te'o is a borderline first-rounder, who could be competing with Vontaze Burfict of Arizona State, Luke Kuechly of Boston College and Dont'a Hightower of Alabama for draft position -- assuming they all come out as underclassmen, that is.

"This could be the best inside linebacker crop in a long, long time."

Four ND opposing players are in the top 10 of the mock draft, including the No. 1 and 2 players overall.

Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck is projected to be the top pick and would land with the Washington Redskins. USC offensive tackle Matt Kalil is No. 2 and projects to Buffalo.

As for the other ND players who project into the 2012 draft, Wright sees outside linebacker Darius Fleming and cornerback Gary Gray as mid-rounders; defensive end Ethan Johnson, cornerback Robert Blanton and kicker David Ruffer as late-round selections and offensive guard Trevor Robinson as a player on the border line of being a seventh-round pick or an undrafted free agent.

Injury update

Senior tight end Mike Ragone's quadriceps injury continues to improve to the point Kelly expects him to be at full strength Saturday.